Hachette Book Group USA had a sharp turnaround in the fourth quarter, with sales rising 12.8 percent (after falling 8 percent in the prior quarter), riding a “powerful performance” and an easier comparison to a year ago, when Stephenie Meyer sales had declined. But Hachette UK continues to struggle, down 4.5 percent for the fourth quarter (after falling 10 percent in the third quarter). The company blamed “tougher international market conditions (REDgroup’s bankruptcy in Australia),” even with UK rights to the Steve Jobs biography. Lagardere’s publishing division reported overall fourth quarter sales of 537 million euros, down 3.4 percent overall […]
Publishers
Except for $76 Million In Charges to Fire 800 People, McGraw-Hill Ends 2011 On A Positive Note
McGraw Hill reported fourth quarter earnings Tuesday morning, with an abundance of measures of adjusted, diluted, continuing operations that seem designed to conjure victory from accounting and confuse reporters. The big excluded items are a $66 million restructuring charge related to severance for about 800 employees laid off during the quarter and another $10 million in “one-time separation expenses necessary to complete” the plan to split the company in half by the end of the new year. Adjusted net income from continuing operations–the measure Wall Street will look to, apparently (and one that excludes the $76 million in charges)–was $184 million, up […]
Briefs: Penguin’s “Strong Holiday As Pearson Ups Earnings Guidance; Grand Central’s New Digital Romance Imprint; and More
Pearson won’t report its preliminary annual earnings until February 27 but Thursday the company provided a short trading update indicating that for the year as a whole, Pearson generated approximately £2 billion in digital revenues and approximately £600m in revenues in emerging markets. They also expect to exceed their full year earnings guidance by 10 percent (with the original forecast being 83p per share), attributing the good news to “rapid growth in digital services, our expanding position in developing economies and the continuing transformation of our business portfolio.” Penguin’s results are said to be “strong” during the holidays, with expectations […]
Guessing Bertelsmann’s Results; Adding Grain of Salt
As often happens, ahead of Bertelsmann actually announcing their annual results, Germany’s Manager Magazin is claiming to report what’s in store. Bear in mind the publication has been wrong before in their pre-reporting (which is amusing, since Bertelsmann’s Gruner + Jahr owns part of the magazine). What they claim is that Bertelsmann will miss their own expectations, with sales up 2 percent for the year and profits falling slightly, by 0.9 percent, to 650 million euros. They also claim that sales at Random House have fallen to “approximately 1.7 billion euros” and EBIT will be down about 5 percent at […]
Briefs: Digital Accounted for 11 Percent of Random UK Overall Sales; Foyles Profits Up; And More
Random House UK chair and chief executive Gail Rebuck‘s annual letter to staff also went out Tuesday (too late for our dispatch) in which she revealed that ebook sales accounted for 11 percent of the group’s overall sales, and that 2011 would be regarded as a “time of significant digital-led change.” Forecasting 2012 Rebuck said that “increasingly, direct consumer engagement will play a pivotal role in our campaigns as online discoverability and recommendation become ever more crucial to the future success of our books.” Bookseller Foyles reported annual revenues of £22.8m for the year ending June 30, down slightly from […]
Sales Rise At Scholastic
Sales rose 3 percent at Scholastic, at $685.3 million, as net income of $82.8 million was up $7.9 million, or more than 10 percent. The company said “improved profits reflected higher sales of educational technology and services, children’s books and ebooks, and classroom and supplemental educational materials.” Children’s trade book sales of $68.8 million were up sharply from $53.3 million a year ago–making up for declines in the larger book clubs and book fairs units. Overall the children’s book publishing and distribution division was up slightly, with operating margin of $108.6 million up 11.5 percent. CEO Dick Robinson says in […]